1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to technology for finding the foreground of an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Virtual camera movement has become an increasingly popular effect for instant reply during sporting events, commercials, movies and other video applications. Virtual camera movement conveys the illusion that a camera is moving around a scene frozen in time. In most cases, the scene is depicted in a three dimensional manner. For example, virtual camera motion has been used in the movie “The Matrix,” and in commercials for the Gap, AT&T and Discover.
One example of virtual camera movement can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,323, “System for Producing Time-Independent Virtual Camera Movement in Motion Pictures and Other Media,” by Taylor (“the '323 patent”). The '323 patent discloses a system with an array of cameras that are deployed along a pre-selected path with each camera focused on a common scene. Each camera is triggered simultaneously to record a still image of the common scene, and the images are transferred from the cameras in a pre-selected order along the path onto a sequence of frames in motion picture film or video tape. Because each frame shows the common scene from a different viewpoint, placing the frames in sequence gives the illusion that one camera has moved around a frozen scene.
One shortcoming of the system disclosed in the '323 patent is that it requires a large number of cameras. Each different view (or angle) uses a separate camera. Such a system is very expensive to deploy. For example, a provider of such a system will need to purchase (or lease) many cameras and a large amount of supporting equipment. The cost of purchasing or leasing such a system will be very expensive. The cost of maintaining, transporting and setting up the equipment will be too expensive for such a system to be used on a regular basis. Additionally, many events take place simultaneously or close in time at different locations; therefore, many systems would be needed, which further drives up the costs.
A system that uses a large amount of camera may also be impractical from a logistics point of view. For example, a system that uses thirty cameras may not be able to be deployed at all stadiums or theaters because of a lack of space to place the cameras.
Thus, a system is needed to provide virtual camera movement that requires less cameras than that of the prior art systems.